NHS rant

[DUNKS]

6 pm in the evening couple of days ago my 88 year old wife fell in the garden and ripped a four inch gash in her forearm. Lots of blood. Did a 999 to be told no help available. Take her to a@e fifteen miles away. My son was home so he took us. Blood everywhere. two towels soaked.

 Got to a@e to find two rooms with at least 50 patients waiting. Standing room only. Warned long wait. Because my wife was dripping blood on the floor a juniour nurse did come and apply a dressing which helped but the wound was still leaking. and I had to keep asking reception  for pads. THIRTEEN AND A HALF HOUS LATER. we were seen by an advanced practitioner nurse who fetched a doctor to tell us there was no-one at the hospital with the expertise to treat this wound. Go away and make an appointment with orthopedic  to get treated.. they did apply dressings to stop the bleeding. We are still waiting for a phone call to confirm this appointment. While we waited five pairs of police persons brought in prisoners' in handcuffs who were treated immediately. OH Well. We were told that at this massive hospital there were only two junior doctors on duty at night. This was Derby Royal

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Sorry to hear that, I hope she is feeling better know.

 

That really is a shocking response and the staff should be embarrassed by their poor handling of a difficult situation.

Why did they feel it was an ORTHOPEDIC matter if it was effectively an open wound gushing blood?

[steve_b_wales]

I have seen both sides of the NHS. I really feel sorry for all the staff who work for it. Blame the government and the massive influx of people coming in from outside the UK.

[DUNKS]

12 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Sorry to hear that, I hope she is feeling better know.

 

That really is a shocking response and the staff should be embarrassed by their poor handling of a difficult situation.

Why did they feel it was an ORTHOPEDIC matter if it was effectively an open wound gushing blood?

Apparently there could be muscle damage and the wound has to be "mechanically closed" for stitching" There are lumps of my wife sticking out. No she is not doing very well at all the loss of sleep and shock has knocked her sideways.

[Rewulf]

38 minutes ago, DUNKS said:

This was Derby Royal

Count yourself lucky it was DRI , if it had beens Queens med you would probably still be there now.

Hoping she gets sorted soon.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

13 minutes ago, DUNKS said:

Apparently there could be muscle damage and the wound has to be "mechanically closed" for stitching" There are lumps of my wife sticking out. No she is not doing very well at all the loss of sleep and shock has knocked her sideways.

Well I hope you decide to submit a proper complaint to the hospital trust.

[Rewulf]

4 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Well I hope you decide to submit a proper complaint to the hospital trust.

My dad (throat cancer) was in a private room in QMC, fell over and hit his head and lay there for hours until they found him.

They immediately decided he was ripe for a 'care pathway' basically finish him off. I said no, and there would be a complaint submitted, they shrugged.

I wrote a complaint, never heard a thing back.

He lived another year.

[TOPGUN749]

So shocking these days. In 1988 I cut my wrist at work,was taken to A and E, got seen and stitched in under 1 hour and back to work! 

[Dougy]

And people will continue to say its nothing to do with the increase in free treatment being handed out. 

The NHS or the Country can continue the way its going. 

Hope your mum gets sorted ASAP. 👍 

[oowee]

Sorry to hear that I hope your wife is on the mend.

The lack of investment in basic services by the Tories is utterly appalling and often only apparent when we are unfortunate enough to use them. 

We moan about paying the market price for doctors and then moan again that we don't have enough doctors. Far easier to blame someone else. 

[Rewulf]

53 minutes ago, oowee said:

Far easier to blame someone else. 

Correct, lets not blame the NHS trusts, who despite being paid increasing amounts each year, are constantly put in special measures for negligence and mismanagement, lets blame the 'tories' instead who have nothing to do with the running of the actual hospitals.
Good job labour are here to sort it all out 

[Miserableolgit]

I hope your wife gets the care, attention and treatment she deserves very soon.

[Vince Green]

My wife's friend who lives in Bournemouth tried on Tuesday to get an appointment with her GP to gets some antibiotics for a chest infection. 

First available appointment was in SEVEN WEEKS time. That's no good she said I need some antibiotics now.

  In that case she was told you need to go to A&E. Or we can get someone to phone you Friday afternoon.

That's why A&E is absolutely rammed with people . The GPs are turning people away but telling them to go to A&E instead.

She didn't go to A&E, instead she went to a private walk in medical centre where she paid about £70 but saw a doctor there and then and walked out with a private prescription for antibiotics which cost her £17 at the chemist.

[Boristhedog]

‘The lack of investment in basic services by the Tories is utterly appalling and often only apparent when we are unfortunate enough to use them. ‘
Yet after 27 years of Labour in Wales we have a far worse NHS service. Routine waits are longer, A&E waits are longer, GP access is poorer. I wonder how the new Government will fair.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

8 minutes ago, Boristhedog said:

‘The lack of investment in basic services by the Tories is utterly appalling and often only apparent when we are unfortunate enough to use them. ‘Yet after 27 years of Labour in Wales we have a far worse NHS service. Routine waits are longer, A&E waits are longer, GP access is poorer. I wonder how the new Government will fair.

Oh I think we know the answer to that one.................................

[Aled]

Wishing your wife a get well soon. Having worked in a GP's surgery in the 90's the number of people who walked in needing immediate treatment was quite low, stitching cuts and patients needing oxygen are two examples, however they were seen by a Dr or sometimes a Nurse there and then. The Dr's also did house calls during the day, and there was a Dr on call during the night for emergency visits. Seems the GP system has changed considerably and a lot of these services are longer available. I think these services made a huge difference to how patients were cared for. I will forever be grateful to the on call Dr who stitched my head up after a rugby gash to my head. 

Edited August 15 by Aled

[harrycatcat1]

5 hours ago, DUNKS said:

6 pm in the evening couple of days ago my 88 year old wife fell in the garden and ripped a four inch gash in her forearm. Lots of blood. Did a 999 to be told no help available. Take her to a@e fifteen miles away. My son was home so he took us. Blood everywhere. two towels soaked.

 Got to a@e to find two rooms with at least 50 patients waiting. Standing room only. Warned long wait. Because my wife was dripping blood on the floor a juniour nurse did come and apply a dressing which helped but the wound was still leaking. and I had to keep asking reception  for pads. THIRTEEN AND A HALF HOUS LATER. we were seen by an advanced practitioner nurse who fetched a doctor to tell us there was no-one at the hospital with the expertise to treat this wound. Go away and make an appointment with orthopedic  to get treated.. they did apply dressings to stop the bleeding. We are still waiting for a phone call to confirm this appointment. While we waited five pairs of police persons brought in prisoners' in handcuffs who were treated immediately. OH Well. We were told that at this massive hospital there were only two junior doctors on duty at night. This was Derby Royal

Just for reference as I don't know where you live, 40 minutes more driving from Derby you could have gone to Whitworth hospital in Matlock, rarely any queues. 8.am till 8pm

[marsh man]

2 hours ago, Vince Green said:

My wife's friend who lives in Bournemouth tried on Tuesday to get an appointment with her GP to gets some antibiotics for a chest infection. 

First available appointment was in SEVEN WEEKS time. That's no good she said I need some antibiotics now.

  In that case she was told you need to go to A&E. Or we can get someone to phone you Friday afternoon.

That's why A&E is absolutely rammed with people . The GPs are turning people away but telling them to go to A&E instead.

She didn't go to A&E, instead she went to a private walk in medical centre where she paid about £70 but saw a doctor there and then and walked out with a private prescription for antibiotics which cost her £17 at the chemist.

I can only relate to the service I have had lately which in my opinion was excellent , getting to see a doctor was no problem and on the day they gave me three different times , then after the doctor checked me over he made me a referral to a chest X Ray , which I have had , a full body scan , which I have had , EEG again I have had and various tests , these were all in a matter of days with about 2/3 weeks the longest wait , only this morning I got two more letters for appointments , one at the NNH and the other one at the JPH . these are all appointments only and it might take a lot longer if I need any medical work done , I also managed to get a NHS dental appointment which is Sept 3rd , so all in all I have no complaints at all .   MM 

[Penelope]

2 hours ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Oh I think we know the answer to that one.................................

Well, ol Two Tier did hold up Wales as a shining example of what a Labour Government would do.

[Rewulf]

28 minutes ago, marsh man said:

I can only relate to the service I have had lately which in my opinion was excellent , getting to see a doctor was no problem and on the day they gave me three different times , then after the doctor checked me over he made me a referral to a chest X Ray , which I have had , a full body scan , which I have had , EEG again I have had and various tests , these were all in a matter of days with about 2/3 weeks the longest wait , only this morning I got two more letters for appointments , one at the NNH and the other one at the JPH . these are all appointments only and it might take a lot longer if I need any medical work done , I also managed to get a NHS dental appointment which is Sept 3rd , so all in all I have no complaints at all .

You are very lucky to have these services.

In Jan 2023 I was A+E d to QMC, gall stones/bladder inflammation, was booked in for 'urgent' gall bladder removal, told I needed an MRI first.
Saw a consultant in May 23 told I didnt need an MRI, he prodded my stomach and said he had examined me.
2 episodes of intense gall stone pain later, one where I was blue lighted in, no date set for operation, sent home with pain relief.

December 2023 I got asked to go in for an MRI, no idea what the results were, as I cant get to speak to my GP, havent for 3 years now.
Jan 24, pre op consultation, asked if I have sleep apnea, answered no.
Booked in for sleep apnea test for March, test was inconclusive, booked in for 2nd sleep apnea test for June 24, 6 months of sleep study delays made the pre op consultation invalid, so needs to be done again.
After 18 months of waiting for an 'urgent' (in their words) gall bladder removal I told them to shove it, they were more than happy to be rid of a patient off their waiting lists, never asked me why, and said if it flares up again, go to A+E.

Now Im not saying the tories were any good, but Im pretty sure it wasnt them telling the hospital to throw people from pillar to post, mess them around and cause unnecessary delays to treatment, likewise there is literally no way labour can fix the broken machine that is the NHS, you could double their budget, stick a million more nurses and doctors into it, but it is managed by IDIOTS, and that isnt going to change until someone with power, and conviction, goes in and strips out all the useless parts and starts again.
Because at the moment, its only going to get worse.
 

[Bigbob]

You want to see a doctor at our surgery you log on to there web site and answer a survey anything you say yes to opens another field of questions you must fill in then it takes you back to the questions say yes too anything and it opens up the same questions as the first time to  be answered again after 30/45 minutes filling in the survey you send it and a doctor will call you back saying if your getting a appointment or not 

You want a hospital app you can just turn up and wait in the queue , But your better phoning NHS 24 on 111 after a long wait you get threw they ask you about 30 minutes worth of questions and a nurse will call you back giving you advice or giving you a hospital app at a set time so you go there at a given time and get seen then and there 

[Westward]

The NHS has been on a pathway to implosion from the day it was started. The whole thing is a catastrophically hopeless cock up from top to bottom and is in dire need of a complete redesign starting with the doctors, especially senior ones - and particularly GPs. IOW the "untouchables". The service needs get the private sector in and start making the "untouchables" accountable.

Simply throwing money at the NHS is not, and never has been an answer or a fix. At best it's helped to disguise shambolic mess that we repeatedly get told is "The envy of the world".

The NHS is great... until you actually need it!

[TIGHTCHOKE]

1 hour ago, Penelope said:

Well, ol Two Tier did hold up Wales as a shining example of what a Labour Government would do.

Oh yes, extremely worrying isn't it?

[Vince Green]

People keep saying the Tories cut funding to the NHS but it's absolutely not true. The reality is they massively increased the funding but it was just pouring money into a black hole and watching it disappear. 

The NHS is it's own worst enemy because nobody is held accountable at any stage and the consultants are allowed to do what they like. Some consultants absolutely wonderful but others are just milking it

[claydodger]

I am amazed your wife and yourself have had to endure this episode, at 88 years of age and the state she was in there was no excuse for not being seen to immediately, I sincerely hope she is on the mend.

I've seen it time and time again when visiting A&E during the last few years but I've usually been in a wheelchair or carried in and been almost at once, as for the time I've walked in the average has been twelve hours.